The incidence and dynamic risk factors of chronic kidney disease among people with HIV

We investigate the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among people with HIV (PWH) and the dynamic risk factors associated with CKD incidence.

A population-based cohort study of PWH in South Carolina.

Adults (age ≥18 years) PWH diagnosed between 2006 and 2019 who were CKD-free at baseline were included. The associations of HIV-related risk factors and conventional risk factors with the incidence of CKD were investigated during the overall study period and by different follow-up periods (i.e. 5, 10, and 15 years) by multivariate logistic regression.

Among 9514 PWH, the incidence of CKD was 12.39 per 1000 person-years. The overall model indicated that conventional risk factors, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, were significantly associated with a higher risk of developing CKD. HIV-related characteristics, such as high percentage of days with viral suppression, recent CD4 + cell count, and percentage of retention in care, were associated with a lower risk of CKD compared with their counterparts. In the subgroup analysis, the results were similar for the 5-year and 6-10 years follow-up groups. Among patients who did not develop CKD by the 10th year, the risk factors for developing CKD within 11-15 years were dyslipidemia, diabetes, low recent CD4 + cell count, and short duration of retention in care while other predictors vanished.

Diabetes, CD4 + cell count, and retention in care were persistently associated with CKD despite of follow-up duration. Closely monitoring diabetes and improving CD4 + cell count and retention in care are important to lower the risk of CKD in PWH.